Glimmer in the Darkness
by SkyCastle10
Summary: He was losing. The Dark Lord of the Sith was losing to his own son. Darth Vader was at his son's mercy, but Luke's decision shakes his entire being. Vader must now face everything that has brought him to this point, and make his final decision.


Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars. I do not.

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Glimmer in the Darkness

by Aurora Starwing

He was losing.

It was unthinkable, but it was happening. White-green hummed through the air to clash against red-orange. The white-green was pounding, stronger than the red-orange, and furious.

Darth Vader clenched his jaw and fought back, harder than he had ever fought before, drawing anger up from unhealed wounds, reaching for the Dark Side, but still he was losing. Losing to his own son, whose anger he had roused, leading Luke down the path of the Dark Side.

As if from a distance, he could hear the Emperor cackling, relishing the battle. He, unlike Vader, could afford to cackle, could relish the battle, since he didn't really care who the victor was, but seeing that Vader was beginning to tire, urged Luke on, urged him to give in to his anger, just as he had urged Anakin to do a lifetime ago in a duel with Count Dooku.

Like his father, Luke obeyed the Emperor, bringing his lightsaber down again and again, Vader surrendering ground. The green lightsaber was relentless. He was tired- tired of fighting his son, tired of being angry, tired of being. Weary, he lost his balance and toppled backwards as Luke sliced through his armor, gashing his shoulder, before whipping to the side and slashing off his right hand. Vader felt a momentary flash of pain as the nerve connections were severed, then nothing. It was less painful than when Dooku had chopped off Anakin's hand, and was probably much less agonizing than what Luke had felt when Vader lopped off his hand in their last confrontation.

Luke stood with the thrumming green blade hovering over his father, poised to kill, and Vader prepared to die, his mind swamped with fury for his traitorous Master. Yet Luke did not strike. Something was holding him back.

"Good! Kill him! Your hate has made you powerful! Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side," the Emperor exhorted Luke. Luke stared at the still sparking stump of Vader's prosthetic, then looked at his own right hand, also prosthetic.

Staring at his son as he never had before, Vader wondered what he was thinking. Was Luke feeling sympathy towards his father, also handless? Was he filled with guilt for maiming another being, his father? Or was he filled with fury that he was anything like Vader at all, even if it was something as minor as a missing limb.

At the moment, he couldn't find out. He didn't have the strength to break past Luke's shields. Not that he wanted to invade his son's mind again- wait, that was a strange thought. Not altogether unexpected, however, considering the number of strange thoughts storming through his head since Bespin, when he had fought Luke and revealed his secret. Ever since then he had been forced to suppress feelings bubbling up from long forgotten places within himself.

Maybe he hadn't suppressed those feelings as well as he had imagined though, because Luke had seen it- that tiny glimmer of light hidden in the darkness that Vader had worked so hard to eradicate. Yet even Luke had given up at last. Little did Luke know that his simple statement on the forest moon had nearly crumbled his father's defenses. _Then my father is truly dead._ Vader had almost lost then- Anakin had almost broken free- but he had caught himself before it could happen. Vader was strong, unlike Anakin.

Vader buried his traitorous thoughts deep within his mind, so deep that he lost them entirely, and waited for Luke to choose. Choose the Dark Side, or the path of the Jedi. Every heartbeat seemed to stretch for a year, every breath a lifetime.

The Dark Lord felt as though he were falling into an empty black fog, devoid of feeling, devoid of anything worth breathing for. Luke was shaking with emotion, gripping his lightsaber tightly, his blue eyes still stormy with rage. Like father, like son. Luke would choose the Dark Side, and Vader would die.

Finally, Luke chose, and his decision rattled Vader to his very core. He hurled his lightsaber from him and faced Palpatine, his slim black clad form radiating the quiet strength of a Jedi, the strength Anakin had never possessed, as he declared, "Never! Never will I turn to the dark side! You have failed, Palpatine. I am a Jedi, as my father was before me."

A Jedi. Anakin had been a Jedi, the most powerful Jedi ever, the Hero With No Fear. But Anakin had lost. He had not been strong enough, and he had died at the hands of Palpatine and Vader. He would stay dead too, because if Anakin Skywalker was resurrected, all of the Corellian Hells and then some would break free. Anakin's specialty was mayhem, after all.

The Emperor's face darkened, rage growing and boiling over from his foul black heart. "So be it, Jedi. If you will not turn, you will be destroyed." He raised his arms and sent crackling blue Force lightning lacing into Luke's body. Luke cried out and fell to his knees, his calm abruptly shattered as the lightning tore through him.

Moving slowly, Vader managed to gather his limbs and crawl to his Master's side. He felt muddled, confused, as though everything he had stood for for so many years had crumbled into ashes. Ideas were jumbled in his head like pieces of a holopuzzle that could never be reassembled. Luke had not fallen; he was far stronger than Anakin had ever been. Luke was good, and Vader was not. Luke had chosen not to kill his father, for the sake of his father, not even for the sake of the good within him that even Luke had given up on, but for the sake of Anakin.

Vader struggled inwardly. If his son was good, then what did that make him? If Luke had chosen to kill him, all he had dreamed of was gone, and he would never be whole. Luke- _his son_. Luke was part of him, and if Luke was to die, why should not he die as well? Vader rebelled at this, but some layer of darkness had been stripped from his soul, and for the first time in twenty years, he heard again the voice of Yoda, echoing in his head.

_Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering._

He had been afraid his entire life, and turned his fear to anger, lashing out at those he loved most. His anger had led him into hatred so vast and deep that he had drowned in it. His hatred had caused an entire galaxy to suffer, caused Padmé, Obi Wan, Luke, and Leia to suffer. All those that he wanted to protect had been harmed by him.

He had hurt others, and so now he was paying for every time he had caused agony, used the Dark Side. The pain was well deserved, he thought bitterly. After all, he had hurt those around him far more. Padmé had died because of him, and she was his beloved wife, the only woman he had ever wanted to be with.

Obi Wan's voice echoed in his head. _Anakin, what have you done?_ What had he done? It was a good question, and like many good questions, it had an answer he didn't want to even begin contemplating. He had killed Padmé- the one he wanted most to save. How had he become like this? How had he become such a revolting perversion of everything he had once stood for?

Vader had told Obi Wan that he hated him, yet Obi Wan was Anakin's brother. Yoda had sensed the conflict, the fear, buried deep within him the first time he saw Anakin, but no one had listened. Anakin's reaction to his mother's death had been his first taste of the Dark Side, and even if he didn't like it, it was addicting.

The Emperor had been slowly twisting his thoughts since the first time Anakin had confided in him, but the fault was Anakin's alone. His fault that the Republic had fallen, that the Jedi had been wiped out, that Padmé had died, that Alderaan no longer existed, that Obi Wan was dead, that Luke would perish even now. Nothing could be blamed on the Emperor, all the blood dripped from Vader's black gloved hands.

With each memory, each voice coming to life once again, a deposit of anger and hatred was peeled from his heart, leaving it bleeding, but breathing once more.

…_.…the voices were swirling around him, his mother….... Ani, I love you…....but his mother was gone, he could not save her.......colors were dancing in his vision as the lightning streaked into Luke's body……._

There certainly wasn't a name for his particular brand of insanity yet.

…_.…and Qui Gon had believed in him, had saved him from slavery.......Yoda came to his and Obi Wan's rescue on Geonosis.......he had killed Padmé.......she had loved him beyond all reason, and he betrayed her........they had all loved him, and he had betrayed them all.......betrayed them for the unfeeling, uncaring Emperor.......he was killing Luke......._

_.......Obi Wan again, shouting this time.......you were my brother, you were the Chosen One……._

The sound of Luke's voice broke through the fog of voices as he moaned. "Father… help me…."

_.......the flood of memories, the flood of feeling, no fear, no anger.......love, peace, goodness…….it was building, building into a crescendo.......light was sparking inside his soul, cleansing with fire.......the fire was searing agony......._

-and Anakin tore free, exploding through the fading blackness that was Vader-

- and the decision was made-

-there was no turning back-

Anakin gathered his strength, clutching the Light to him like a drowning man. He grasped the Emperor; staggering beneath the weight of the evil and darkness he was burdened with, and lurched to the edge of the power core. He blocked everything out, focused all his formidable will on the act he sensed would be his last.

The lightning shot out from the Emperor's fingertips still, and snaked around his suit, snatching at his respirator with a vengeance, blue crackling sounding a death knell. Anakin lifted him high, for one minute filled with the power that had once been his, long ago, when he was still a Padawan, and hurled Darth Sidious down the shaft.

The power, the Light left him as suddenly as it had come, hovering on the edge of his mind, and he collapsed, knowing that his time was ending, knowing that he had saved his son, had been true to Padmé, been true to Obi Wan. Luke came to him then, and pulled him from the edge, and held him close. Anakin sighed, and was at peace, at last.

Long live Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight and Chosen One, Balancer of the Force.

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_Author's Note: Thanks for reading my story! Any comments are greatly appreciated. This is my first fic that centers around emotions, so I'd like to know how it turned out. If any of you have a better idea for the genre(s) this could be listed under, please let me know. Remember, this is only my idea about how Vader chose to kill the Emperor, so if you don't like it, go somewhere else. I would also like it if any of you would check out the poll on my profile. Thanks again, hit that 'Review' button, and May the Force be With You._


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